Be the catalyst of change! | Veronica Colondam | TEDxYouth@SPH
## Speaker Context
- Speaker identity: Unspecified speaker, discussing change initiatives.
- Audience, setting, occasion of the talk: An event, following "business school without further Ado."
- Framing the speaker establishes: The importance of knowing what to change, who to change, and how to break the status quo; establishing personal humility ("I'm not like that").
## People
- Veronica: Person recognized by applause at the start of the talk.
- Monaka: Scavenger, mechanic who attended the program, inspiring story subject.
- Christian: Babysitter/domestic helper, subject of a case study.
- Mother Teresa: Person who said, "there's no greater or the uh worse kind of poverty than those who who you know then those who do not have water or or sanitation or or money or shelter or or clothing then you know compared to those who do not have opportunity in life."
- Nelson Mandela: Person who said, "education is the most powerful weapon in which you can use to change the world."
## Organizations
- Yap: Organization founded in 1999; its premise is that investing wholeheartedly in education will lead to better welfare households; operating as a yayasan (foundation) in Indonesia.
- Microsoft: Sponsor that sponsored the entrepreneurship training class.
- Astra Honda: Company that approached Yap to offer five free spots for top students to study further.
## Places
- Korea: Location where a "drivers of change" movement has activity.
- Japan: Location where a "drivers of change" movement has activity.
- Indonesia: Country where the speaker discussed various issues (malnutrition, education, water access, child brides, forest destruction) and where Yap operates.
- UC Berkeley: University attended by someone mentioned as a graduate.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- Ruma: Mechanic/workshop for motorcycle, used in the context of Monaka's activity.
- Samsung: Company that launched a program on electronic repair; recruited top students from the program.
- MicroFinance/microloan/micro Capital: Financial means used by Yap to stabilize family income so they can support children's education.
## Concepts & Definitions
- Catalyst for change: The topic of the talk; requires knowing what to change, who to change, and how to break the status quo.
- Drivers of change: A movement/concept related to creating change globally.
- MAL: Mentioned in the context of nutrition issues (Malnutrition).
- SD: Primary school (Sekolah Dasar).
- ASAT: Diploma or vocational (mentioned as educational level).
- Pyramid: Metaphor used to describe access to pipe switch services, where those with pipe services are on top.
- Yayasan: Indonesian word for foundation.
- Ambition: Described as a huge force that drives the want to change.
- Legacy: Question related to personal meaning and purpose ("what is the kind of Legacy you want to leave behind").
## Numbers & Data
- 25: Denominator in the fraction describing the global rate of kids under five having malnutrition (1 in 25).
- 4: Denominator used for Indonesia's malnutrition rate (1 in 4).
- 115 million: Number of annual dropouts from UNESCO globally.
- 4: Denominator stating that for every four kids who graduate from SD, only one can go to college.
- 20: Number of people in the group during the second training session with Microsoft.
- 3: Number of months that passed between the first meeting with Monaka and the second training session.
- 2,000: Number of young people in the entrepreneurship training class sponsored by Microsoft.
- 5: Number of free spots offered by Astra Honda.
- 10 million: Figure related to what Astra Honda might cost to get into (paid).
- 15 million: Figure related to what Astra Honda might cost to get into (paid).
- 2: Number of classes per year opened by Honda (minimum).
- 50: Maximum number of students per class at Honda training.
- 100: Maximum number of students yearly at Honda training.
- 5 million: Amount of money received by Monaka from Astra (prize money).
- 11 million: Tuition cost for Monaka's next education step.
- 2: Number of things Monaka wants to be (owner of Honda shop, entrepreneur).
- 2: Number of people Monaka's story demonstrates change for (Monaka and Christian).
- 4: Number of years old the speaker's young mother was when the speaker faced the question of meaning.
## Claims & Theses
- Creating change requires knowing who you want to change, what to change, and how to break the status quo.
- Asking the right question is the key to change.
- UNESCO reports 115 million dropouts per year globally.
- In Indonesia, for every four kids graduating from SD, only one can go to college.
- Only 1% of all Indonesians have access to pipe switch services.
- Half of registered marriages in Indonesia involve brides under 19 years old.
- Every day, 2 kilometers of forest are destroyed, which equals 40 football fields.
- The thesis of Yap is that education, if invested in wholeheartedly, will change into better welfare households.
- The mission of Yap is to enable underprivileged youth through hope and opportunity.
- Education is the most powerful weapon in which you can use to change the world.
- The microFinance is used as a *means to an end*; the end is education for all.
- Doing an activity is not enough; you are investing in the life of one person.
- The biggest challenge in education is to change that mindset to change that self-confidence.
- If you see a problem and have the ability to change, you can create a meaningful change.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- The process of creating change requires identifying the target population, the specific issue, and the mechanism of change.
- The structure of Yap’s intervention involves using microfinance to stabilize family income, which then enables children's education.
- The transformation process seen in individuals like Monaka involves initial struggle/stigma, opportunity (training/sponsorship), and ultimately achieving high-level success.
- The speaker's process for finding meaning involves questioning one's own life's purpose across several dimensions (origin, morality, meaning/purpose, destiny).
## Timeline & Events
- 1999: Year Yap was born.
- Past: Monaka was a scavenger who collected trash.
- Past: Monaka found a Ruma mechanic in between where he lived and where he worked.
- Past: Monaka attended the first class at the press conference sponsored by HSBC.
- Past: Speaker was talking to a group of 2,000 young people in the entrepreneurship training class sponsored by Microsoft.
- Three months down the road: Monaka was seen waving at the speaker during the training class.
- Timeframe: The time span covering the success of Monaka, leading to Astra Honda’s interest.
## Examples & Cases
- Example: Questions for a community dealing with poverty, such as "to whom can I start borrowing money?" or "what is it that I can sell today that make a difference?"
- Case Study: The situation in Indonesia regarding malnutrition (1 in 4 affected).
- Case Study: Educational barriers in Indonesia (only one in four graduates from SD can go to college; half seats available for high school).
- Case Study: Water access in Indonesia (only 1% have access to pipe switch services).
- Case Study: Child marriage (half of registered marriages in Indonesia involve brides under 19 years old).
- Case Study: Monaka, the scavenger who collected trash and joined the program.
- Case Study: Christian, the babysitter/domestic helper who continued her education and worked with Samsung.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- Education vs. other immediate needs: Young people may work in the streets/market to help family income instead of attending school.
- Being an employee vs. being an entrepreneur: After education, one can either work for someone or sell something.
- Option of continuing education vs. immediate work: Christian’s boss risked letting her continue schooling.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker notes that the movement of people has "drivers of change" linked to Korea, Japan, and everywhere in the world.
- The speaker acknowledges that Yap is a *means to an end*; it is not the microFinance itself that changes people.
- The speaker asserts: "We cannot make them change if they did not want to change."
## Methodology
- The speaker suggests a framework involving asking the right question to determine the path to change.
- Utilizing macro-level data (UNESCO reports, national statistics) to frame the scope of the problem.
- The self-reflection process for the speaker involved posing life's "four big questions."
## References Cited
- UNESCO: Source cited for dropout rates.
- HSBC: Sponsor of the first class Monaka attended.
- Martin Luther King Jr. (Implied, by invoking similar themes): Reference to the idea of opportunity in life's challenges.
- Christopher Booker (Potential reference, unclear): Mentioned regarding the topic of "change."
- World View/Philosophies: General reference group when discussing the four big questions (e.g., Christianity, Islam).
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- If you want to create change in Indonesia, talk about malnutrition, poverty, education, and water access.
- Focus on asking the right question about *how* to change.
- The ultimate recommendation is to answer the question: "What is my mission in life?"
- The final advice is to "ask the right question at every corner."
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to act results in continuing problems like malnutrition, low educational attainment, and lack of basic sanitation (99% of Indonesians lack pipe service).
- Not gaining opportunity can prevent people from reaching leadership roles, despite their intelligence.
- If opportunity is provided, people move from mere hope to becoming ambitious.
## Open Questions
- The speaker did not explicitly answer the "how do you make it work" question at the beginning.
- The audience was implicitly left with the challenge of answering their own "mission in life" or purpose.
## Verbatim Moments
- "The kind of questions you want to ask yourself... to whom can I start borrowing money?"
- "only 1% of all Indonesians have access to pipe switch Services isn't that staggering to see that only 1% of us could actually have"
- "there's no greater or the uh worse kind of poverty than those who who you know then those who do not have water or or sanitation or or money or shelter or or clothing then you know compared to those who do not have opportunity in life"
- "education is the most powerful weapon in which you can use to change the world"
- "We cannot make them change if they did not want to change."
- "God love me I love the world"
- "what is the kind of Legacy you want to leave behind"
- "I'm going to leave you behind with a few thinking with the story of this guy called monaka"